Dennis Hopper's Last Meal with Terrylene

First a moment of silence for the late, great and misunderstood genius Dennis Hopper.

Well when I started this blog, I had all kinds of ideas about what I was going to do with it but instead, just started writing, and as many things do, it just "got started". At this point, the beginning,.....it looks like a lazy woman's guide to cooking...hmmmmm....

Case in point---no one but me for dinner last night and I could have ordered pizza but I chose to "cook" instead. What I did was only slightly lazy I guess....lightly fried a ground chuck burger, seasoned with lemon pepper & garlic pepper and eaten as a "steak", along with some of my secret stash of pasta from Italy and a decent jarred marinara sauce. Greek salad completed the meal and later in the evening while watching "The Hangover" (did you know that Asian guy in the trunk is from Greensboro?)...some creme brulee (obviously not from scratch - Fresh Market helped out here). Drank some lovely white table wine.

Today, my oldest moves back home for a few days while his new place is being finished. My crafting room is being filled up with a kid again - oh dear!

Lighting and Thunder and Ramen Noodles

Uptown ramen noodles last night. I wasn't going to make dinner - husband away fishing at the coast, Sam at work and Erica out and about. Just as I was deciding which leftovers to use up, Erica came home because the weather was getting really bad. It was almost 9p.m. and a not so perfect time to be eating dinner but she and I were hungry. Sam is working at the marina 1 & 1/2 blocks away and had ridden his bike there. All of a sudden all hell broke loose with the weather. Lighting and thunder scary big. I drove over and picked Sam up to "save him from the lightning". We all sat down together for a bad weather, quickly prepared and quite tasty dinner.

First hardboil some eggs and peel them. Chop up whatever veg and leftover cooked meat you have. We had grilled pork chops, sauteed snap peas, & green onions from the night before. Cook the ramen with the spice packet that comes with it - put the meat and veg in before it starts to boil. Add the eggs and dig in. If you want spice, add Chinese chili sauce. Perfect by itself but we had a fresh French baguette and each had a slice of that. Served with an excellent vintage (box o'wine, 2010).

Never Waste Stale Chips

What shall we have for dinner tonight? The answer lies in the bottom of the potato chip bag - it's almost empty and the chips remaining are tiny, broken and stale - AHA! Tuna casserole it is! Everyone loves to hate it but they gobble it up anyway and it couldn't be easier even if you decide to "church it up".

I make it a little bit different each time but today's version includes some new(ish) items. I had leftover yellow and red peppers and red onions in the refrigerator from the vegie kabos the previous day so I saute'd them briefly in a little extra virgin olive oil, along with some sliced celery. I also had a package of wild mushrooms - Food Lion carries this (To-Jo Exotics - containing crimini, shitake and oyster) - gave them the the same treatment.

Next I cooked a package of No Yolks Dumplings - not a cholesterol thing (although that should be the reason) - I just like the way they look and taste. Dump those noodles into the bottom of a glass casserole dish (spray it first with Pam and you will thank yourself later at dish doing time). Throw the vegies in. Drain a can of tuna and add it to the casserole. Mix one can cream of mushroom soup with 1/2 can of milk. Pour that over the dish and mix everything up nicely. Top with any kind of cheese - I used cheddar today. Crush the chips even more and scatter them over the top of everything. Cook in a 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes until everything is nice and bubbly hot. Delicious - one happy husband, one happy home from college son and one happy home from college son's girlfriend. One happy me - easy, no fuss, no drama food.